Aftermath
by PearlQ19
Summary: PostX3. Rogue returns after having taken the cure and has a nightly encounter with Wolverine. Slight Rogan 'shipping, but mostly friendshipping. Please RR.


**Aftermath**

_A/N:__ I've never read the X-Men comics, so this fanfiction is strictly movie-verse. I always hated the way the writers let the Rogue/Wolverine storyline hinted at in the first movie drop just like that. I imagine there's a reason for it that can probably be found in the comic books, but as I said – I've never read them. So this is what I'd like those two characters to do…_

_The usual "non-native speaker warning" applies, and please send a review._

_Classification:__ Missing Scene movie-verse one-shot, to be inserted at the end of the third movie. Centric: Wolverine/Rogue._

_Summary:__ Rogue returns after having taken the "Cure" and has a nightly encounter with Wolverine._

**xxx**

Rogue took a deep breath and entered the building. She had been away from the Xavier Institute for a couple of days and had already learned that she had missed the final fight against Magneto and his army. Rumors had spread, people gossiped, but Rogue did not know how much of that she could actually believe. Was it really true that Jean Grey was dead, that Magneto had been robbed of his powers, that Bobby had fought Pyro, that a mutant with wings like an angel had turned up…? She was dying to talk to someone who would tell her what was true and what was not.

Rogue walked along the deserted corridors, heading for her room. She dreaded the stillness of it that was awaiting her. It was already late at night and she was not expecting to see anyone, although she would have loved to have someone to talk to, to take her mind off the things to come.

Bobby, for instance. She had felt him slip away from her during the past few weeks. She had watched him spending more and more time with Kitty Pryde, and she couldn't even hold it against him. He had a girlfriend whose touch would kill him. Where was the sense in that? Little wonder he turned to Kitty, whose ability was far more useful than her own. Kitty could save his life, while she, Rogue, could only destroy it.

Heaving a deep sigh, Rogue entered her room, flung her bag on the bed and sat down next to it. For a while, she remained there, staring blankly at the wall. She felt funny. She was home, but did she even have the right to still call the Xavier Institute home? Now that she was no longer endowed with special powers? She was just an ordinary girl now…

Rogue breathed deeply. This was useless. She couldn't just sit on her bed and stare at the walls; she'd probably go mad. She got up and left her room, zigzagging through the corridors with no clear idea in mind where exactly she was heading. In the end, she walked out the back door and went over the adjoining field in the direction of Xavier's and Scott's graves. Perhaps the night air would clear her mind, and visiting the professor's grave might settle her down a little.

Even from a distance, though, Rogue could see that she was not the only one who was out in the graveyard that night. A lonesome figure was crouching in front of one of the headstones. Coming closer, Rogue noticed two things: first, that there was one more grave next to the two she already knew, and second, that the person out there was a man. And he looked very familiar.

Logan.

And the sight of all this made it clear to Rogue that at least the rumors about the death of Jean Grey had to be true. She was close enough now to be able to read the inscription of the headstone, confirming what she had already feared: Dr. Grey was buried here, next to her mentor and her lover. And the man who was kneeling in front of her grave, bent and grief-stricken, looked as if he would love to claw at the ground and dig his own grave right next to hers.

Rogue's heart cringed. She'd had a huge crush on Logan which had left her heartbroken and depressed when she first came here due to the fact that Logan had fallen in love with Jean Grey, but it caused her almost physical pain to see him so desperate now. She had not hated Dr. Grey for taking Logan from her – even more so because Dr. Grey had always resisted his advances and had remained faithful to Cyclops as far as Rogue knew. No, she had never blamed Jean that Logan did not love her back the way she would have loved him to, and after a while, Rogue had managed to suppress these feelings and turn to Bobby. But now all she wanted to do was to rush over to Logan and wrap him in her arms – especially now, since she no longer was a danger.

She stood there for quite some time, uncertain whether she should go to him or turn around and leave him alone in his grief. Knowing him, she thought he'd probably prefer to be alone, but at the same time, she did not want to go. He was her friend, after all. She did not want to leave a friend alone.

While she was still debating, Logan suddenly got up and turned around. His eyes were red-rimmed, flickering unsteadily, and he looked even more lupine than usual. His voice was raspy when he spoke.

"You really should pay more attention to stealth and observation classes," he remarked. "I sensed you from a mile away."

"I didn't make any effort to conceal myself," Rogue replied.

They fell silent and looked at each other for a little while. Eventually Rogue's eyes returned to the headstone. Logan followed her gaze and his face grew hard.

"I'm sorry," Rogue said quietly. "I'm so sorry, Logan. I know…" She trailed off.

Logan averted his eyes from her and looked down on his hand. The adamantium claws appeared, accompanied by a swishing sound. He stared at them for quite some time.

"I killed her," he said abruptly, startling Rogue. He did not look at her; his eyes were fixed on the silver razor-sharp claws. "I used my powers to kill someone I loved." He looked up and at Rogue, but his gaze seemed to go right through her. "How could I?"

Rogue made a gesture as if to reach for him but did not dare complete it.

"You had no choice," she said quietly. "And from what I hear, it wasn't really Jean anymore. The woman you killed was… evil." Rogue shuddered when she remembered what Storm had told her about the death of Professor X.

"But Jean was still there… somewhere," Logan said darkly. "And she… she begged me to do it. To finish it." He drew a deep, shuddering breath. "She _wanted _me to kill her."

Rogue did not know what to say. Again, she lifted one hand as if to touch him; and again, she did not complete the move. But Logan noticed it.

"You did not take the cure, after all?" he inquired.

Rogue was confused for a moment, then it occurred to her that he probably thought she did not touch him for fear to hurt him. Suddenly her throat became narrow; all of a sudden, she was visited by the feeling that it might, after all, not have been the right thing to do to get rid of her power. A tear formed in her eye and slowly trickled down her cheek, and she lowered her head and did not answer.

"Hey," said Logan, surprisingly gently. "Don't cry."

He came closer to her and stretched out a hand. The touch of his fingers was light as he lifted her chin until their eyes were level. His other hand cupped her cheek for a moment. He wiped the tear away. Then he frowned, looking at his hand and her skin. Recognition dawned on his face.

"You _did_ take the cure," he stated. "You've given up your powers. Why, Rogue?"

"Because I also once killed someone I loved," Rogue replied. "But he certainly did _not _ask me to do it. My powers are too dangerous, Logan. I cannot control them. And they're of no use…"

"Don't say that," Logan interrupted her. "We have those powers for a reason. But now you might never find out the reason for yours…"

"I don't care," Rogue shouted. "You don't know what it's like, not being able to touch anyone. You have no idea how lonely it makes you… how lonely it made me…" She turned away, not wanting him to see her tears. "I'm human, for heaven's sake!" she said hoarsely, her back still to him. "Humans have the need to be held. And I was denied this by those powers. They were a curse!" Her voice rose again, only an inch from cracking. "You don't know, Logan! You don't care! You said you were my friend, but you don't understand…" She cringed, sobbing into her hands.

Logan moved, and an instant later, he was there, pulling her into an embrace from behind, holding her tightly.

"Hey," he said soothingly.

Rogue leaned back against him, still sobbing, but soon overcome by a feeling completely unlike anything she had felt before. It took her a moment to figure out what it was, but then it occurred to her that this was the first embrace someone had given her in a very long time. The feeling was one of safety, of being protected. She grasped Logan's arms, not wanting him to let go of her, and he didn't.

Her tears subsided after a while and still it was hard for her to let go. But Logan's grip eventually loosened, although he did not retreat completely. Instead, he took her by the shoulders and made her turn around to face him.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

Rogue managed a faint smile. "Yeah… I think so." She wiped the last tear from her cheek. "Thank you, Logan."

"Anytime, Rogue. I _am _your friend, you know."

"And I am yours," Rogue replied. "And I'm feeling a little embarrassed now – because I should be supposed to be consoling you, not the other way round."

Logan smiled. "Never mind. There will be days when I'll be in need of you holding me."

Rogue nodded slowly. Then she raised her hand to touch the side of his face, briefly. And with one last smile, she turned around and slowly went back to the building.

It was only when she had reached her own room that it occurred to her that Logan had touched her thinking she had not taken the cure.

He hadn't cared.


End file.
